James Michael Lahey was born in 1961. A Toronto painter with an inclination to large-scale abstractions, photorealistic landscapes and still life paintings, James Lahey was trained in fine arts, architecture, and artifact preservation in Canada and Italy. His work in oil paint, alkyd and conte´ is often based on photographs or linked to poetic or epistolary texts and lived experience. Lahey lives and works in Toronto. He holds a B.F.A. from York University and was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy in 2001. His artwork is included in numerous public and private collections, such as the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Government of Canada External Affairs, Tom Thompson Memorial Art Gallery, Citybank collection, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, AGS Art Services, Edmonton Art Gallery, Spar Aerospace and The Toronto Sun.